HET VERHAAL VAN 2014
After the 60th edition, the organization of the Tulpenrallye announced that the collaboration with route setter Joep Wanders would not continue after two successful editions. Starting from 2014, the route would be set by father and son Jan and Erwin Berkhof. Both have multiple wins as navigators in the Tulpenrallye, especially father Jan who has been involved with the event for many decades in roles like navigator, route setter, making pace notes, and team manager.
As promised after the 2013 edition, the finish of this edition returned to Noordwijk. For the start location, Annecy was chosen again, 65 years after the idea for the Tulpenrallye was first discussed there. The Imperial Palace Hotel on the shores of Lake Annecy is well-known to the organization and participants, and is very suitable for the Tulpenrallye. Two nights were booked for this edition, and the route on the first day looped through the mountains of the French Alps with patches of snow still visible in places. From there, the route headed north to Besançon, also a familiar stage in the history of the Tulpenrallye.
On the way to Horbourg-Wihr in the French Alsace region, participants tackled the famous mountains of the Vosges on Wednesday, and on Thursday, they made a brief excursion to Germany; Saarbrücken. Via Vaals, participants drove on the final day of this 61st edition to the finish in Noordwijk. Lunch was provided by Firezone Oil in Utrecht, and before participants reached the finish in Noordwijk, they drove the Tulpenrallye Sprint on the boulevard in Noordwijk. The weather in Noordwijk was poor this year with heavy rain and strong winds. At the last minute, the organization decided to move the finish podium to the large awning under the Pickézaal and in front of the entrance of Grand Hotel “Huis ter Duin.”
The Mappa Mondo houses of the Red Cross were the charity supported by the Tulpenrallye this year. RTL presenters Frits Wester and Roelof Hemmen manned the BN car and presented a check for 40,000 euros at the finish. Autovisie editor-in-chief Jaco Bijlsma appeared at the start in a Porsche from Pon and drove together with rookie navigator Diederik Parlevliet, writing a beautiful report of this edition for Autovisie.
A total of 227 teams appeared at the start of this edition. Key participants included Harm Lamberigts / Peter Rovers, father and son Mark and Remco Hagenzieker, Michel Perridon / Maurits Verhoef, Jan Ebus / Thijs Bender, Willem Broens / Thijs de Beus, Pim Janus / Fred Froger, Sinus Sinke / Bart den Hartog, Harry Dekker / Maarten Verweij, Jan Peter and Yolanda Zijl, Paul Zweers / Arjan van der Palen, and Alexander Leurs / Peter van Hoof.
The brothers Janus from the company Janus Vaten, who were closely involved in the early editions of the historic Tulpenrallye and always entered a large number of teams, were also present. They actively announced their participation beforehand during a nice lunch with the Stan Huygens Journaal from De Telegraaf and talked about the Koni ex-Formula 1 bus they brought along for team meetings.
The team of Alexander Leurs and Peter van Hoof in a 1970 Opel Ascona won this 61st edition of the Tulpenrallye. Alexander Leurs and Peter van Hoof recounted their victory during the Tulpenrallye 2014: before the rally, Peter had said, “I’m driving the ugliest car in the entire field.” Would he still have thought that when he and Alexander drove onto the roof of the Ascona on Saturday night into the banquet hall of Huis Ter Duin? It was a beautiful conclusion to seven fantastic days. Thanks to the route setters, control setters, marshalls, service teams, control collectors, the calculation chamber, and the sponsors!
The experienced team of Robert van den Camp and Onno den Boer won the Sporting class, while Toni Bienemann and Edwin Roos (with a Rolls Royce) won the Touring class. The Vintage class, for which a separate route was planned this year, was won by father and daughter Charles and Jacqueline Serry with a Bentley.
